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I'd rather say that the urge to kill yourself is fundamentally irrational. Yes, there are relatively "rational" suicides, but these are very rare. But it may t

I'd rather say that the urge to kill yourself is fundamentally irrational. Yes, there are relatively "rational" suicides, but these are very rare. But it may take going to the edge to realize that you want to live and want to die at the same time. An irrational suicidal urge does not remove your survival instinct or will to live, it can only hide it, at best. I believe that this conflict is at the center of many "strange" or counter intuitive behaviors around suicide.

throwawaylolx 7y ago
>I'd rather say that the urge to kill yourself is fundamentally irrational. How so? If there is little to no expected pleasure and considerable expected pain in the foreseeable future, why is it fundamentally more rational to wait it out or "fight" instead of giving up? Both seem rational choices to me even if I'd choose the former.
- bayesian_horse 7y ago
  For one thing the basis of that decision is a warped perception, if not outright psychotic. For another, a rational death wish can't really be reversed, especially not within minutes or hours, as seems to be the norm rather than the exception. We tend to rationalize irrational drives or motivations. But that doesn't make them rational. Depressives can and will try to prove to others why they have to die. But the basis seems to be more a neurobiologic function than an objective evaluation of facts.
  - deleted 7y ago
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